Want to survive Mt Everest? Then join a team from an egalitarian country where people listen to each other. It’s that simple

There’s bad luck, like the avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas and other Nepalis on the Khumbu Icefall below Mt Everest last year.

There’s
your own body, which can let you down in any number of ways from
cerebral and pulmonary odoemas (an abnormal accumulation of fluid) to
heart attack and plain old exhaustion.

There’s lack of experience, which claims an increasing number of big-spending victims each year on guided expeditions.

But
according to a new study, the one factor which leads to more deaths on
Everest (and the world’s highest peaks) is a rigid social heirarchy.

One of the lucky ones... this man
survived an avalanche on Mount Manaslu in northern Nepal. At least nine
mountaineers were killed. (AP Photo/Garrett Madison, Alpine Ascents
International)Source: AP

Here’s what that means. When countries with a strict social
heirarchy organise mountaineering expeditions, they tend to reach the
summit more than most groups. But they also end up with more dead
climbers because the safety concerns of some climbers tend not to be
addressed by expedition leaders.

“For better or worse, hierarchy
exerts strong influence over group outcomes,” report the study’s
authors, a doctoral candidate and a professor from Columbia Business
School and an assistant professor from INSEAD graduate business school
in France.

“Strong hierarchical values pave the way for
coordinated effort, but, at the same time, these values can mute the
voice of others in the face of threat,” the report’s authors say.

“Our
results suggest that, to avoid errors, strong hierarchical cultures
need to implement mechanisms geared toward encouraging low-ranking
members to voice their perspectives
and for high-ranking members to integrate this feedback.”

Andrew Lock in his office in 2007.Source: News Limited

News.com.au contacted leading Australian mountaineer Andrew
Lock to gauge his thoughts on the study. While he wasn’t aware of it, he
agreed that it seemed to ring true.

“Look, anecdotally I would
find it difficult to argue that position,” he said. “Certainly I have
seen those rigid groups in the mountains. When there is a degree of
inflexibilty in an expedition, I can certainly see that less experienced
members may not be willing to raise their voices or their voice may not
be heard.”

Andrew Lock is no ordinary climber. He recently
released a book called Summit 8000, which details his amazing, and
successful, 16-year quest to climb the 14 peaks in the world higher than
8000 metres. He is the only Australian to join the elite
“Eight-thousander” club which has just 33 (undisputed) members.

When
you read Andrew’s book, you see that decision-making is often the
difference between life and death. Several times he wisely neglected to
attempt a summit even though he was within a few hundred metres of
completing an expedition which had been months and tens of thousands of
dollars in the making.

Dhaulagiri is no place to get stubborn.Source: NewsComAu

Once, on a climb of the world’s 7th highest peak, the 8167
Dhaulagiri in Nepal, Andrew needed to spend a night alone on the
mountain to acclimatise to the lack of oxygen. Acclimatisation is
something climbers do to prepare their bodies for the onslaught of
summit day, but it’s highly unusual for a climber to spend a night alone
so high. But his team leader, an Aussie, agreed to let him do it.
Andrew reckons he could have experienced life-threatening physical
difficulties if he’d attempted the summit without that extra night up
high.

Andrew
Lock has lost more than 20 of his climbing friends either on
expeditions in which he participated, or on subsequent climbing trips.
He knows that danger strikes in many ways in the so-called “death zone”
above 8000 metres. But he also knows that the more regimented a climbing
party, the more the chance of failure.

“I know of instances where
an Indian army team died on Everest where one would think they should
have had the nous for lateral thinking, to turn around when the
circumstances were not right,” he says.

India, says the study, is
one of the world’s most heirarchical countries, right up there with the
likes of Russia and China, who have also had multiple fatalities over
the years on Everest and nearby peaks.
Andrew also cites the
example of a Japanese expedtition which came to grief on the summit
plateau of Manaslu, the world’s eighth highest mountain at 8,163m.

Mt Manaslu, Nepal. The Japanese group came to grief on the flattish area between the two summits.Source: News Limited

“How the lot of them got caught out raises questions,” he says.

“My
experience from cultures around the world is that Australians are more
outspoken and willing to challenge leadership, not confrontationally,
but willing to talk about it.

“I can imagine in some cultures people simply would not argue with leadership and that would bring them unstuck.”

Not that any of this should lead you to think we Aussies are immune to danger.

Five
Australians have died on Mt Everest over the years. But far more
Russians, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans and Indians have succumbed to
the mountain’s will, so you’d have to think the study’s authors are onto
something.

As their report says: “Hierarchy, it turns out, can elevate climbers to the summit, but at a potentially steep cost.

For more information about the Summit Murder Mystery series, CLICK HERE To order your copy of Murder on Everest, CLICK HERE

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About Me

Charles G. Irion is the award-winning author and founder of Irion Books LLC which includes Remodeling Hell, Autograph Hell, Car Dealer Hell and Divorce Hell. In addition, Charles has authored a series of murder mystery novels set against the backdrop of the Seven Summits; they are Murder on Everest, prequel Abandoned on Everest, Murder on Elbrus, Murder on Mt. McKinley, Murder on Puncak Jaya, Murder on Aconcagua, Murder on Vinson Massif and Murder on Kilimanjaro.

A successful investor and businessman, Irion is the founder of U. S. Park Investments, a company that owns and brokers manufactured home and RV communities. In addition, Charles released Roadkill Cooking for Campers - The Best Dang Wild Game Cookbook in the World.